Every issue of Vanity Fair includes a page in which a noted figure replies to the Proust Questionnaire, and in the September issue, Donatella Versace provides the answers. The amazing, succinct, serrated, brilliant answers.

The 59-year-old fashion icon, who owns 20% of Versace, a company worth over $630 million, mentions that her greatest regret is "That my brother Gianni is not with us today." But that's a tender moment in an otherwise fierce, skewering onslaught.

Oh, there's some self-doubt. For instance, the question: What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? Donatella's reply: "My personality." Ouch.

But she quickly recovers and reigns supreme:

What is your greatest extravagance?

Diamonds.

Plus:

What is the quality you most like in a man?

Charm and a good body.

And:

What is the quality you most like in a woman?

Strength and power.

And, even better:

What is your most marked characteristic?

That I get what I want.

And this one really sums things up:

If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what do you think it would be?